One of the best ways to keep your home looking great is to make sure its paint is in great condition. After all, when people approach your house, the paint is one of the very first things they’ll notice. But the paint isn’t just cosmetic—it also acts as a first line of defense against the elements that could affect the structure of your home.
So how do you know when it’s time to repaint your home? Here’s some information from our hardware store. We carry a huge selection of house paint in Seattle, WA to help with your project:
- Faded colors: Over time, the colors of your paint will fade away due to constant exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet light. Darker colors will typically fade faster than lighter ones, but no matter what, your paint isn’t going to look great if it’s faded. These days the technology used to create paint has gotten to the point where it takes longer for paint to fade than it once did, but when fading begins, it’s time to start thinking about repainting.
- Cracking or bubbling: If you notice cracks or bubbles starting to form on the surface of the paint, this is a result of rot, mold or extreme temperature swings. These bubbles and cracks are even uglier and more obvious than fading, so it’s a good sign that you need to repaint your home.
- Chalking: Chalking isn’t always noticeable at first—it may take you running your hand over the surface of the paint to really determine for certain whether or not it’s something that’s happening to your paint. If the paint leaves a chalky residue on your hand and feels hard, then this is a sign your paint is chalking as a response to years of exposure to harsh weather and the elements.
- Peeling: This is perhaps the most obvious sign indicating that you need to repaint your home. Obviously, paint is not designed to peel off its substrate. But if it does start to peel away, it will quickly make your home look old and dilapidated, and can also expose the structure of your home to damage. It’s important to repaint if you’re having issues with peeling paint.
- Rotten wood: If you have rotting wood on your home or garage, this is a sign that the paint is no longer doing its job of protecting the wooden material, meaning you’ll need to repaint soon to avoid any further damage.
- Hardened caulk: The structure of your home will expand and contract with the seasons. The caulk will expand and contract with it, but as it ages, it loses its elasticity. Hardened caulk can then cause damage to your walls, so it’s important to replace it and repaint on a semi-regular basis.
These are just a few examples of some of the primary indicators that you need to repaint your home. Contact Stewart Lumber & Hardware Co. today to learn more about our wide selection of house paint in Seattle, WA from many of the industry’s top brands!